Live view control device, live view control method, live view system, and program

ABSTRACT

A live view control device according to an aspect of the present invention includes a display control unit that displays each of a plurality of live view images received from a plurality of imaging devices in each of a plurality of areas of a display screen, a priority setting unit that sets a priority of the plurality of live view images, a transfer condition setting unit that sets transfer conditions including at least one of a frame rate of transfer and an image size of the transfer of the plurality of live view images on the basis of the priority of the plurality of live view images, and a communication control unit that transmits a transfer instruction for a live view image according to the set transfer conditions to the plurality of imaging devices via the wireless communication unit.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation of PCT International Application No.PCT/JP2015/068130 filed on Jun. 24, 2015, which claims priority under 35U.S.C. § 119(a) to Japanese Patent Application No. 2014-184950 filed onSep. 11, 2014. Each of the above applications is hereby expresslyincorporated by reference, in their entirety, into the presentapplication.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a live view control device, a live viewcontrol method, a live view system, and a program, and moreparticularly, to a live view control device, a live view control method,a live view system, and a program that receive a plurality of live viewimages from a plurality of imaging device through wirelesscommunication.

2. Description of the Related Art

A technology of degrading a frame rate of a display of a live view imageunder specific conditions in an imaging device having an imagingfunction for imaging a subject and recording a captured image is known.JP2013-150159A discloses a technology for increasing a frame rate of adisplay of a live view image not to miss a shutter chance in a casewhere it is detected that a user is about to image a subject, anddecreasing the frame rate of the live view image display to suppresspower consumption in a case where it is detected that a user is notabout to image a subject. JP2003-244529A discloses a technology forreducing a load of an entire processing system including an internal busby decreasing a frame rate of a display of a live view image at the timeof continuous imaging in an imaging device.

Further, JP2011-082901A discloses a technology for setting a narrowermotion detection range for a subject when a value of a frame rate of alive view image display increases, for the purpose of shortening adetection processing time for a motion of the subject.

Further, a technology for receiving a plurality of images from aplurality of terminal devices through wireless communication andcreating and displaying a multi-screen image is known. JP2014-038336Adiscloses a technology for switching a connection of a plurality ofterminals according to a priority of the plurality of terminals.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A user terminal such as a smartphone or a tablet terminal is required toreceive a plurality of live view images transmitted from a plurality ofimaging devices through wireless communication and display the pluralityof live view images on a display screen (hereinafter referred to as“multi-live view”).

However, a load of transfer of a plurality of live view images from aplurality of imaging devices to a user terminal, and a load ofprocessing of the plurality of live view images in the user terminalincrease as the number of imaging devices that transmit live view imagesincreases. Accordingly, an actual frame rate of a live view imagedisplay in the user terminal may be degraded. That is, there arises aproblem in that display image quality of a multi-live view is degradeddue to an increase in the number of imaging devices connected bywireless communication.

JP2013-150159A, JP2003-244529A, JP2011-082901A, and JP2014-038336A donot pay attention to a problem of degradation of display image qualityin such multi-live view. Even when the technologies described inJP2013-150159A, JP2003-244529A, JP2011-082901A, and JP2014-038336A areapplied to the multi-live view, the above-described problems cannot besolved.

JP2013-150159A and JP2003-244529A merely disclose a technology forcontrolling a frame rate of a display of a live view image, andoriginally lack the perspective of reducing a transfer load of wirelesscommunication between a plurality of imaging devices and a userterminal. Further, according to the technology described inJP2013-150159A, a frame rate of a display may be degraded even when alive view image is important. According to the technology described inJP2003-244529A, a frame rate of a display at the time of live view ofnon-consecutive imaging is always maintained not to be degraded.

JP2011-082901A mentions a relationship between a motion of a subject anda frame rate of a display, but does not originally disclose or suggestreducing a transfer load of wireless communication between a pluralityof imaging devices and a user terminal.

JP2014-038336A merely discloses setting a priority for a plurality ofterminals and does not disclose or suggest setting a priority for aplurality of live view images.

In the multi-live view, importance may be different between a pluralityof live view images irrespective of a difference (for example, adifferences in model or a difference in imaging performance) among aplurality of imaging devices. Accordingly, even when a configuration inwhich a priority is set among the plurality of imaging devices accordingto the difference between the plurality of imaging devices using thetechnology described in JP2014-038336A is adopted, the frame rate of thelive view image with high importance may be degraded. Accordingly, itcan be said that it is difficult to reliably maintain the displayquality of the live view image with high importance.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances,and an object of the present invention is to provide a live view controldevice, a live view control method, a live view system, and a programcapable of performing load reduction while maintaining display qualityof a live view image with high importance even when the number ofimaging devices increases in a case where a plurality of live viewimages captured by a plurality of imaging devices are received throughwireless communication and displayed.

An aspect of the present invention is a live view control device,comprising: a wireless communication unit that receives a plurality oflive view images from a plurality of imaging devices through wirelesscommunication; a display control unit that displays each of theplurality of live view images received from the plurality of imagingdevices in each of a plurality of areas of a display screen capable ofdisplaying an image; a priority setting unit that sets a priority of theplurality of live view images among the plurality of live view images; atransfer condition setting unit that sets transfer conditions includingat least one of a frame rate of transfer and an image size of thetransfer of the plurality of live view images on the basis of thepriority of the plurality of live view images; and a communicationcontrol unit that transmits the transfer conditions set by the transfercondition setting unit to the plurality of imaging devices via thewireless communication unit.

According to this aspect, since the transfer conditions including atleast one of the frame rate of the transfer of the plurality of liveview images and the image size of the transfer are set on the basis ofthe priority set among the plurality of live view images and transmittedto the plurality of imaging devices, it is possible to perform a loadreduction while maintaining display image quality of the live view imagewith high importance among the plurality of live view images even whenthe number of imaging devices connected through radio communicationincreases.

In an aspect of the present invention, the priority setting unit setsthe priority of the plurality of live view images on the basis of atleast one of a display aspect and a display situation of the live viewimage.

According to this aspect, it is possible to automatically set thepriority of the plurality of live view images on the basis of at leastone of the display aspect of the plurality of live view images and thedisplay situation of the plurality of live view images. Accordingly, itis possible to reliably maintain display image quality of the live viewimage with high importance among the plurality of live view images. In acase where there is a change in the display aspect, the priority of theplurality of live view images is automatically set and the display imagequality of the live view image with high importance is reliablymaintained. In a case where the display situation has been changed, thepriority of the plurality of live view images is automatically set, andthe display image quality of the live view image with high importance isreliably maintained.

In an aspect of the present invention, the priority setting unit setsthe priority of the live view image according to at least one of adisplay size and a display position of the live view image.

According to this aspect, the priority of the plurality of live viewimages can be automatically set according to at least one of the displaysize and the display position of the live view image that is set by auser.

In an aspect of the present invention, the priority setting unit setsthe priority of the live view image according to whether a predeterminedspecific subject image exists in the live view image, or which of aplurality of subject images having a predetermined priority is thesubject image in the live view image.

According to this aspect, the priority of the plurality of live viewimages is automatically set according to a subject image in a pluralityof live view images that are captured and transferred by a plurality ofimaging devices.

In an aspect of the present invention, the priority setting unit setsthe priority of the live view image according to at least one of whetheror not a moving body image exists in the live view image, a size of themoving body image in the live view image, and a movement speed of themoving body image.

According to this aspect, the priority of the plurality of live viewimages is automatically set according to a moving body image in aplurality of live view images that are captured and transferred by aplurality of imaging devices.

In an aspect of the present invention, the live view control devicefurther comprises: a first transfer condition change determination unitthat determines whether or not the transfer conditions are changed onthe basis of a result of comparison between at least one of an actualframe rate and an actual image size of one or a plurality of live viewimages having a specific priority or a higher priority received from theplurality of imaging devices among the plurality of live view images anda threshold value, in which the transfer condition setting unit changesthe transfer conditions on the basis of a determination result of thefirst transfer condition change determination unit.

According to this aspect, even when the number of imaging devicesincreases, it is possible to change the transfer conditions whileaccurately maintaining the display image quality of the live view imagewith a high priority.

In an aspect of the present invention, the live view control devicefurther comprises: a second transfer condition change determination unitthat determines whether or not the transfer conditions are changed onthe basis of a result of comparison between a sum over the plurality ofimaging devices of at least one of an actual frame rate and an actualimage size of the plurality of live view images and a threshold value,in which the transfer condition setting unit changes the transferconditions in a case where the second transfer condition changedetermination unit determines that the transfer conditions are changed.

According to this aspect, even when the number of imaging devicesincreases, transfer conditions are changed according to a sum over theplurality of imaging devices of at least one of the actual frame ratesof the plurality of live view images and the actual image size.

In an aspect of the present invention, the live view control devicefurther comprises: a third transfer condition change determination unitthat determines whether or not the transfer conditions are changed onthe basis of both of an actual frame rate and an actual image size ofthe plurality of live view image, in which the transfer conditionsetting unit changes the transfer conditions in a case where the thirdtransfer condition change determination unit determines that thetransfer conditions are changed.

According to this aspect, since the transfer conditions change inconsideration of both of the actual frame rate and the actual imagesize, it is possible to maintain display image quality of the pluralityof live view images in a case where the image size is small even whenthe frame rate is high or in a case where the frame rate is low evenwhen the image size is large.

In an aspect of the present invention, the live view control devicefurther comprises a display aspect instruction input unit that receivesan instruction input for at least one of a display size and a displayposition of the live view image.

In an aspect of the present invention, the live view control devicefurther comprises a priority instruction input unit that receives aninstruction input for a priority of the plurality of live view images.

According to this aspect, it is possible to maintain display imagequality of the plurality of live view images even in a case where a userdirectly instructs and inputs the priority of the plurality of live viewimages.

An aspect embodiment of the present invention relates to a live viewsystem, comprising: an imaging device; and the live view control device.

An aspect of the present invention relates to a live view controldevice, comprising: a step of receiving a plurality of live view imagesfrom a plurality of imaging devices through wireless communication; astep of displaying each of the plurality of live view images receivedfrom the plurality of imaging devices in each of a plurality of areas ofa display screen capable of displaying an image; a priority setting stepof setting a priority of the plurality of live view images among theplurality of live view images; a transfer condition setting step ofsetting transfer conditions including at least one of a frame rate oftransfer and an image size of the transfer of the plurality of live viewimages on the basis of the priority of the plurality of live viewimages; and a step of transmitting the set transfer conditions to theplurality of imaging devices through wireless communication.

In an aspect of the present invention, the priority setting stepincludes setting the priority of the plurality of live view images onthe basis of at least one of a display aspect and a display situation ofthe live view image.

In an aspect of the present invention, the priority setting stepincludes setting the priority of the live view image according to atleast one of a display size and a display position of the live viewimage.

In an aspect of the present invention, the priority setting stepincludes setting the priority of the live view image according towhether a predetermined specific subject image exists in the live viewimage, or which of a plurality of subject images having a predeterminedpriority is the subject image in the live view image.

In an aspect of the present invention, the priority setting stepincludes setting the priority of the live view image according to atleast one of whether or not a moving body image exists in the live viewimage, a size of the moving body image in the live view image, and amovement speed of the moving body image.

In an aspect of the present invention, the live view control methodfurther comprises a first determination step of determining whether ornot the transfer conditions are changed on the basis of a result ofcomparison between at least one of an actual frame rate and an actualimage size of one or a plurality of live view images having a specificpriority or a higher priority received from the plurality of imagingdevices among the plurality of live view images and a threshold value,in which the transfer conditions are changed on the basis of adetermination result of the first determination step.

In an aspect of the present invention, the live view control methodfurther comprises a second determination step of determining whether ornot the transfer conditions are changed on the basis of a result ofcomparison between a sum over the plurality of imaging devices of atleast one of an actual frame rate and an actual image size of theplurality of live view images and a threshold value, in which thetransfer conditions are changed on the basis of a determination resultof the second determination step.

In an aspect of the present invention, the live view control methodfurther comprises a third determination step of determining whether ornot the transfer conditions are changed on the basis of both of anactual frame rate and an actual image size of the plurality of live viewimage, in which the transfer conditions are changed on the basis of adetermination result of the third determination step.

An aspect of the present invention relates to a program that causes acomputer to execute: a step of receiving a plurality of live view imagesfrom a plurality of imaging devices through wireless communication; astep of displaying each of the plurality of live view images receivedfrom the plurality of imaging devices in each of a plurality of areas ofa display screen capable of displaying an image; a priority setting stepof setting a priority of the plurality of live view images among theplurality of live view images; a transfer condition setting step ofsetting transfer conditions including at least one of a frame rate oftransfer and an image size of the transfer of the plurality of live viewimages on the basis of the priority of the plurality of live viewimages; and a step of transmitting the set transfer conditions to theplurality of imaging devices through wireless communication. Acomputer-readable non-transitory recording medium having this programrecorded thereon is also included in an aspect of the present invention.

According to the present invention, it is possible to perform loadreduction while maintaining display quality of a live view image withhigh importance even when the number of imaging devices increases in acase where a plurality of live view images captured by a plurality ofimaging devices are received through wireless communication anddisplayed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram illustrating an example of a live viewsystem including a plurality of imaging devices and a smartphone.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram illustrating a hardware configurationexample of a smartphone which is an example of a live view controldevice.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of mainunits of a live view control device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an illustrative diagram illustrating an example of multi-liveview control information.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of a first embodiment of alive view control method.

FIG. 6 is an illustrative diagram that is used for description of adisplay screen.

FIG. 7 is a first illustrative diagram that is used for description ofsetting of a layout (an example of a display aspect).

FIG. 8 is a second illustrative diagram that is used for description ofsetting of a layout (an example of a display aspect).

FIG. 9 is a third illustrative diagram that is used for description ofsetting of a layout (an example of a display aspect).

FIG. 10 is an illustrative diagram that is used for description oftrimming of a live view image.

FIG. 11 is an illustrative diagram of a live view image display examplein the first embodiment of the live view control method.

FIG. 12 is an illustrative diagram illustrating a variation of a displaysize change of a live view image.

FIG. 13 is an illustrative diagram illustrating a variation of a displayposition change of a live view image.

FIG. 14 is an illustrative diagram of a trimming range change of a liveview image.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of a second embodiment of thelive view control method.

FIG. 16 is an illustrative diagram of a live view image display examplein the second example of the live view control method.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of a third embodiment of thelive view control method.

FIG. 18 is an illustrative diagram of a live view image display examplein the third embodiment of the live view control method.

FIG. 19 is a configuration diagram illustrating another example of alive view system including an imaging device and a smartphone.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described withreference to the drawings.

[Configuration of Live View System]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram illustrating an example of a live viewsystem including a plurality of imaging devices 10A, 10B, and 10C and asmartphone 100. Hereinafter, at least one of the plurality of imagingdevices 10A, 10B, and 10C may be referred to as an “imaging device 10”in some cases.

In this example, each of the plurality of imaging devices 10A, 10B, and10C and the smartphone 100 directly perform wireless communication.

[Example of Hardware Configuration of Smartphone]

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of thesmartphone 100 illustrated in FIG. 1.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, main components of the smartphone 100 includea wireless communication unit 110, a display and input unit 120, acalling unit 130, an operation unit 140, a camera unit 141, a storageunit 150, an external input and output unit 160, a global positioningsystem (GPS) reception unit 170, a motion sensor unit 180, a powersupply unit 190, and a main control unit 101. Further, a main functionof the smartphone 100 includes a wireless communication function ofperforming mobile wireless communication via a base station device and amobile communication network.

The wireless communication unit 110 performs wireless communication withthe base station device accommodated in the mobile communication networkaccording to an instruction of the main control unit 101. Using thiswireless communication, transmission and reception of various types offile data such as audio data and image data, e-mail data, or the like,or reception of web data, streaming data, or the like is performed. Inthis example, the wireless communication unit 110 of the smartphone 100transmits an instruction input for various operations to the imagingdevice 10, or receives a live view image, an image for recording, or thelike from the imaging device 10.

The display and input unit 120 is a so-called touch panel that displaysan image (a still image and a video), text information, or the like tovisually deliver information to a user under the main control unit 101,and detects a user operation for the displayed information. The displayand input unit 120 includes a display panel 121 and an operation panel122. In a case in which a 3D image is viewed, it is preferable for thedisplay panel 121 to be a 3D display panel.

The display panel 121 uses a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organicelectro-Luminescence display (OELD), or the like as a display device.

The operation panel 122 is a device that is placed so that an imagedisplayed on the display panel 121 can be viewed, and detects one or aplurality of coordinates operated by a finger of a user or a stylus. Ifthis device is operated by the finger of the user or the stylus, theoperation panel 122 outputs a detection signal generated due to theoperation to the main control unit 101. Then, the main control unit 101detects an operation position (coordinates) on the display panel 121 onthe basis of the received detection signal.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the display panel 121 and the operation panel122 of the smartphone 100 are integrally formed to constitute a displayand input unit 120, but the operation panel 122 is arranged tocompletely cover the display panel 121. In a case in which thisarrangement is adopted, the operation panel 122 may also have a functionof detecting a user operation for an area other than the display panel121. In other words, the operation panel 122 may include a detectionarea (hereinafter referred to as a display area) for an overlappingportion which overlaps the display panel 121, and a detection area(hereinafter referred to as a non-display area) for an outer edgeportion which does not overlap the display panel 121, other than thedisplay area.

A size of the display area and a size of the display panel 121 maycompletely match, but do not need to necessarily match. Further, theoperation panel 122 may include two sensitive areas including the outeredge portion and an inner portion other than the outer edge portion.Further, a width of the outer edge portion may be appropriately designedaccording to, for example, a size of a housing 102. Further, a positiondetection scheme adopted in the operation panel 122 may include a matrixswitch scheme, a resistive film scheme, a surface acoustic wave scheme,an infrared scheme, an electromagnetic induction scheme, a capacitivescheme, and the like, and any one of the schemes may be adopted.

The calling unit 130 includes a speaker 131 or a microphone 132. Thecalling unit 130 converts voice of the user input via the microphone 132into audio data which can be processed by the main control unit 101 andoutputs the audio data to the main control unit 101, or decodes theaudio data received by the wireless communication unit 110 or theexternal input and output unit 160 and outputs the audio data from thespeaker 131. Further, as illustrated in FIG. 1, for example, the speaker131 and the microphone 132 may be mounted on the same surface as thesurface in which the display and input unit 120 is provided.

The operation unit 140 is a hardware key using a key switch or the like,and receives an instruction from the user. For example, the operationunit 140 is mounted on a lower surface in a lower portion in a displayportion of the housing 102 of the smartphone 100, and is a push buttonswitch that is turned ON when pressed by a finger or the like and turnedOFF due to a restoring force of a spring or the like when the finger isreleased.

The storage unit 150 stores a control program or control data of themain control unit 101, address data associated with, for example, a nameor a telephone number of a communication partner, transmitted andreceived e-mail data, web data downloaded by web browsing, or downloadedcontent data, and temporarily stores streaming data or the like.Further, the storage unit 150 includes an internal storage unit 151built in the smartphone and an external storage unit 152 having a slotfor an external memory that is detachable. Each of the internal storageunit 151 and the external storage unit 152 constituting the storage unit150 is realized using a storage medium, such as a flash memory type,hard disk type, multimedia card micro type, or card type of memory (forexample, a Micro SD (registered trademark) memory), a random accessmemory (RAM), or a read only memory (ROM).

The external input and output unit 160 serves as an interface with allof external devices connected to the smartphone 100, and is directly orindirectly connected with other external devices through, for example,communication (for example, Universal Serial Bus (USB) or IEEE1394) or anetwork (for example, the Internet, wireless LAN, Bluetooth (registeredtrademark), radio frequency identification (RFID), infraredcommunication (infrared Data Association: IrDA; registered trademark),UWB (Ultra Wideband; registered trademark), or ZigBee (registeredtrademark)).

Examples of the external device connected to the smartphone 100 includea wired/wireless headset, a wired/wireless external charger, awired/wireless data port, a memory card or a subscriber identity module(SIM)/user identity module (UIM) card connected via a card socket, anexternal audio and video device connected via an audio and videoinput/output (I/O) terminal, a wirelessly connected external audio andvideo device, a wiredly/wirelessly connected smartphone, awiredly/wirelessly connected personal computer, a wiredly/wirelessconnected PDA, and an earphone. The external input-output unit cantransfer data received from such an external device to each componentinside the smartphone 100, or send internal data of the smartphone 100to the external device.

The GPS reception unit 170 receives GPS signals that are transmittedfrom GPS satellites ST1 to STn, executes a positioning calculationprocess based on a plurality of received GPS signals, and detects aposition including a latitude, a longitude, and an altitude of thesmartphone 100 according to an instruction of the main control unit 101.When the GPS reception unit 170 can acquire position information fromthe wireless communication unit 110 or the external input and outputunit 160 (for example, wireless LAN), the GPS reception unit 170 canalso detect the position using the position information.

The motion sensor unit 180 includes, for example, a three-axisacceleration sensor, and detects a physical motion of the smartphone 100according to an instruction of the main control unit 101. By detectingthe physical movement of the smartphone 100, a movement direction or anacceleration of the smartphone 100 is detected. A result of thedetection is output to the main control unit 101.

The power supply unit 190 supplies power accumulated in a battery (notillustrated) to each unit of the smartphone 100 according to aninstruction of the main control unit 101.

The main control unit 101 includes a microprocessor. The main controlunit 101 operates according to the control program or the control datastored in the storage unit 150 and generally controls each unit of thesmartphone 100. Further, the main control unit 101 has a mobilecommunication control function of controlling each unit of acommunication system, and an application processing function in order toperform audio communication or data communication through the wirelesscommunication unit 110.

The application processing function is realized by the main control unit101 operating according to application software stored in the storageunit 150. Examples of the application processing function includes aninfrared communication function of controlling the external input andoutput unit 160 and performing data communication with a facing device,an e-mail function of performing transmission and reception of ane-mail, and a web browsing function of viewing web pages.

Further, the main control unit 101 has an image processing function of,for example, displaying an image on the display and input unit 120 basedon image data (data of a still image or a video) such as received dataor downloaded streaming data. The image processing function refers to afunction of the main control unit 101 decoding the image data,performing image processing on a result of the decoding, and displayingthe image on the display and input unit 120.

Further, the main control unit 101 executes display control for thedisplay panel 121, and an operation detection control for detecting auser operation through the operation unit 140 or the operation panel122.

Through the execution of the display control, the main control unit 101displays an icon for starting up the application software or a softwarekey such as a scroll bar, or displays a window for creating an e-mail.The scroll bar refers to a software key for receiving an instruction formoving an image display portion for a large image that cannot be fittedin the display area of the display panel 121.

Further, through the execution of the operation detection control, themain control unit 101 detects a user operation through the operationunit 140, or receives an operation for the icon or an input of acharacter string to an input field of the window or receives a requestfor scroll of a display image using the scroll bar via the operationpanel 122.

Further, the main control unit 101 has a touch panel control function ofdetermining whether an operation position for the operation panel 122 isthe overlapping portion that overlaps the display panel 121 (displayarea) or the other outer edge portion (non-display area) that does notoverlap the display panel 121, and controlling the sensitive area of theoperation panel 122 or a display position of the software key, throughthe execution of the operation detection control.

Further, the main control unit 101 can also detect a gesture operationfor the operation panel 122, and execute a preset function according tothe detected gesture operation. The gesture operation refers to anoperation of drawing a trajectory with a finger or the like, designatinga plurality of positions simultaneously, or combining these and drawinga trajectory for at least one of a plurality of positions, rather than aconventional simple touch operation.

The camera unit 141 is a digital camera that performs electronic imagingusing an imaging element such as a complementary metal oxidesemiconductor (CMOS) or a charge-coupled device (CCD). Further, thecamera unit 141 can convert the image data obtained through imaginginto, for example, compressed image data such as joint photographiccoding experts group (JPEG), and record the compressed image data in thestorage unit 150 or output the compressed image data via the externalinput and output unit 160 or the wireless communication unit 110 underthe control of the main control unit 101. In the smartphone 100illustrated in FIG. 1, the camera unit 141 is mounted on the samesurface as the display and input unit 120, but a mounting position ofthe camera unit 141 is not limited thereto and may be mounted on a backsurface of the display and input unit 120. Alternatively, a plurality ofcamera units 141 may be mounted. In a case in which the plurality ofcamera units 141 are mounted, switching to the camera unit 141 providedfor imaging may be performed and imaging may be performed using onlysuch a camera unit 141, or imaging may be performed using the pluralityof camera units 141 at the same time.

Further, the camera unit 141 can be used for various functions of thesmartphone 100. For example, the image acquired by the camera unit 141can be displayed on the display panel 121, or the image of the cameraunit 141 can be used as one operation input of the operation panel 122.Further, when the GPS reception unit 170 detects the position, the GPSreception unit 170 can also detect the position by referring to theimage from the camera unit 141. Further, the optical axis direction ofthe camera unit 141 of the smartphone 100 can be determined or a currentuse environment can be determined by referring to the image from thecamera unit 141 without using the 3-axis acceleration sensor, or incombination with the 3-axis acceleration sensor. Of course, the imagefrom the camera unit 141 can also be used within the applicationsoftware.

In this example, by downloading application software for operating theimaging device 10 over a network or the like, storing the applicationsoftware in the storage unit 150, and operating the main control unit101 according to the downloaded application software using theapplication processing function of the smartphone 100, thegeneral-purpose smartphone 100 functions as a user interface (UI unit)for operating the imaging device 10.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of maincomponents of a live view control device of the present invention. InFIG. 3, the smartphone 100 is an example of a live view control deviceof the present invention.

The wireless communication unit 110 of the smartphone 100 is used as animage input unit 202 that receives (inputs) the plurality of live viewimages from the plurality of the imaging devices 10, and an instructionoutput unit 204 that transmits (outputs) an instruction of transferconditions to the plurality of imaging devices 10.

The display and input unit 120 of the smartphone 100 is used as aninstruction input unit 212 that receives an instruction input of theuser. The instruction input unit 212 constitutes an example of a displayaspect instruction input unit in the present invention, and receives aninstruction input for a display aspect of a plurality of live viewimages (for example, an instruction input for at least one of a displaysize and a display position of the live view image).

The main control unit 101 of the smartphone 100 includes a displayaspect setting unit 232 that sets a display aspect of a plurality oflive view images, a priority setting unit 234 that sets a priority of aplurality of live view images among a plurality of live view images, atransfer condition setting unit 236 that sets transfer conditionsincluding at least one of a frame rate of transfer of the plurality oflive view images and an image size of the transfer on the basis of thepriority among the live view images, a load detection unit 238 thatdetects at least one of load of transfer (hereinafter simply referred toas a “transfer load”) of the live view image from the imaging device 10to the smartphone 100 and a load of processing (hereinafter simplyreferred to as a “processing load”) of the live view image in thesmartphone 100, a transfer condition change determination unit 240 thatdetermines whether the transfer conditions to be set for the pluralityof imaging devices 10 is changed on the basis of the load detected bythe load detection unit 238, an image processing unit 242 that performsimage processing on the live view image received from the plurality ofimaging devices 10, a display control unit 244 that displays each of theplurality of live view images received from the plurality of the imagingdevices 10 in each of a plurality of areas of the display panel 121(which is an example of a display screen capable of displaying animage), a display situation detection unit 246 that detects a displaysituation of the live view image, a communication control unit 248 thattransmits the transfer conditions set by the transfer condition settingunit 236 and an instruction to transfer the live view image to theplurality of imaging devices 10 via the wireless communication unit 110,and an execution control unit 250 that controls execution of processingin each unit of the smartphone 100 according to a program stored in thestorage unit 150.

Next, an aspect of setting of a priority in the priority setting unit234 of the smartphone 100 will be described. The priority setting unit234 of the smartphone 100 sets the priority of the live view images onthe basis of at least one of the display aspect and the displaysituation of a plurality of live view images. The display aspectindicates an aspect in which the display control unit 244 displays thelive view image on the display panel 121 in this disclosure. The displaysituation indicates a situation of a display of the live view imageactually displayed on the display panel 121 under control of the displaycontrol unit 244 in this disclosure.

The aspect of a display of the live view image may include the followingexamples.

-   -   A display size of the live view image.    -   A display position of the live view image.    -   Whether or not to enlarge and display the live view image.        Alternatively, an enlargement rate.    -   Whether or not to blur and display the live view image.        Alternatively, a blur rate.    -   Whether or not to highlight and display the live view image. For        example, whether or not an area is an area of a backlight        display.    -   Presence or absence of stage effects of a live view image        display. Alternatively, a type of stage effects.

The display situation of the live view image may include the followingexamples.

-   -   Presence or absence of a specific subject image in the live view        image.    -   Importance of a subject image in the live view image (for        example, a predetermined order of subject images).    -   At least one of presence or absence, a size, and a movement        speed of a moving subject image in the live view image.    -   A background in the live view image.    -   Continuous display time of the live view image.

The display aspect of the live view image may be set and input by theuser using the display aspect setting unit 232 or may be automaticallyset.

The display situation of the live view image may be detected from thelive view image by the display situation detection unit 246 or may bedetected from information that the imaging device 10 has added to thelive view image. The user may determine the display situation from thedisplayed live view image and input information corresponding to thedisplay situation to the smartphone 100.

The display aspect and the display situation of the live view image arenot particularly limited to the above-described examples.

Next, a determination aspect of transfer condition change in thetransfer condition change determination unit 240 of the smartphone 100will be described.

In a first determination aspect, the transfer condition changedetermination unit 240 functions as a first transfer condition changedetermination unit in the present invention, and determines whether ornot the transfer conditions are changed on the basis of a result ofcomparison between an actual frame rate (which is a measurement value)of a live view image having a specific priority or a higher priorityamong the plurality of live view images and a threshold value. Only theactual frame rate of the live view image having the highest priority maybe compared with the threshold value. Preferably, the transfer conditionchange determination unit 240 also functions as a third transfercondition change determination unit in the present invention, andperforms the above determination on the basis of both of the actualframe rate (which is a measurement value) and the actual image size(which is a measurement value). Further, the present invention includesa case where the determination is performed on the basis of only theactual image size.

Here, the “actual frame rate” and the “actual image size” may bedifferent from the frame rate and the image size set in the imagingdevice 10 when the transfer load or the processing load is high. Theload detection unit 238 monitors the frame rate and the image size ofthe live view image until the live view image is received from theimaging device 10 and displayed on the display panel 121 to detect theactual frame rate and the actual image size, and obtains a result of acomparison with a threshold value. For example, the “actual frame rate”and the “actual image size” are detected as a difference (which is arelative value) with the frame rate (which is a set value) and the imagesize (which is a set value) set for the imaging device 10, respectively.Preferably, the actual image size and the actual frame rate areintegrated, integrated values are summed (totalized) over the live viewimages having a specific priority or higher priorities, and a sum iscompare with a threshold value. Only the integrated value of the liveview image having the highest priority may be compared with a thresholdvalue.

In a second determination aspect, the transfer condition changedetermination unit 240 functions as a second transfer condition changedetermination unit in the present invention to sum (totalize) the actualframe rates (which are measurement values) of the plurality of live viewimages over all of a plurality of imaging devices 10A, 10B, and 10C, anddetermines whether to change the transfer conditions on the basis of aresult of a comparison between the sum and the threshold value.Preferably, the transfer condition change determination unit 240 alsofunctions as a third transfer condition change determination unit in thepresent invention to determine the above determination on the basis ofthe actual frame rate (which is a measurement value) and the actualimage size (which is a measurement value). Further, the presentinvention includes a case where the determination is performed on thebasis of only the actual image size.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of multi-live view control informationthat is managed by the main control unit 101 of the smartphone 100.Information of column “Imaging Device” in FIG. 4 is identificationinformation indicating the plurality of imaging devices 10A, 10B, and10C illustrated in FIG. 1. Information of column “Live View Image” inFIG. 4 is identification information indicating the plurality of liveview images LV1, LV2, and LV3 that are received from the plurality ofimaging devices 10A, 10B, and 10C illustrated in FIG. 1 through wirelesscommunication. Information of column “Display Aspect” of FIG. 4indicates an example of a display aspect of each live view image. The“Display Aspect” in this example indicates the display size and thedisplay position instructed and input by a user using the instructioninput unit 212. Information of column “Display Situation” in FIG. 4indicates an example of a display situation of the live view image. The“Display Situation” in this example is detected from the live view imageby the display situation detection unit 246. Information of column“Priority” in FIG. 4 indicates a priority among the plurality of liveview images. “Priority” of this example is set by the priority settingunit 234. There are a case where the priority is “1”, “2”, and “2” (thatis, a case where there are both of a combination of different prioritiesand a combination of the same priorities among the plurality of liveview images), and a case where the priority is “1”, “2”, and “3” (thatis, a case where priorities are different in all combinations among theplurality of live view images), as illustrated in FIG. 4. Information ofcolumn “Transfer Conditions” of FIG. 4 is transfer conditions (setvalue) that are transmitted to the plurality of respective imagingdevices 10A, 10B, and 10C and set in the respective imaging devices. Thetransfer conditions of this example are set in the transfer conditionsetting unit 236. A “Measurement Value” in FIG. 4 indicates a state ofactual transfer and processing of the live view image (which is a loadstate). The “Measurement Value” of this example is measured by the loaddetection unit 238 of the smartphone 100. A magnitude of the“Measurement Value” of this example corresponds to a magnitude of a load(a transfer load and a processing load). Although the “MeasurementValue” in this disclosure has a smaller value when the load increases,the “Measurement Value” may be measured to have a greater value when theload increases. In the latter case, it should be noted that a magnituderelationship between the measurement value and a threshold value isreversed to description in this disclosure.

The multi-live view control information illustrated in FIG. 4 is anexample, and information for controlling the execution of the multi-liveview is not particularly limited to the information illustrated in FIG.4.

A flow of a first embodiment of a live view control method in thesmartphone 100 will be described using a flowchart of FIG. 5. Theprocess in the smartphone 100 illustrated in FIG. 5 is executedaccording to a program stored in the storage unit 150 of the smartphone100 by the execution control unit 250 of the smartphone 100. The imagingdevice 10 is assumed to be a state in which a power switch has beenalready turned on and initialization has ended.

The display aspect setting unit 232 of the smartphone 100 performssetting of a layout of a live view image display (which is an example ofa display aspect) (step S102).

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 6, a multi-live view screenincluding a live view image display area 121A, a layout patternselection area 121B, and an imaging device number selection area 121C isdisplayed on the display panel 121 (which is an example of a displayscreen) of the display and input unit 120. The live view image displayarea 121A includes a plurality of areas (a first image display area 301,a second image display area 302, and a third image display area 303) fordisplaying a plurality of live view images LV1 to LV3 that are receivedfrom the plurality of imaging devices 10A to 10C. Further, the live viewimages LV1 to LV3 are not displayed in this step. The layout patternselection area 121B is an area for displaying patterns (shapes) of alayout selectable corresponding to the number of imaging devicesselected and input in the imaging device number selection area 121C andreceiving a selection input of the pattern of the layout from the user.Reference numerals 124 to 127 are icon buttons.

In a state in which such a multi-live view screen is displayed on thedisplay and input unit 120, the user can select a desired layout patternfrom among a plurality of layout patterns illustrated in FIG. 7 (pattern311A in a case where the imaging device number is 1, patterns 312A,312B, 312C, and 312D in a case where the imaging device number is 2, andpatterns 313A, 313B, 313C, 313D, and 313E) in a case where the imagingdevice number is 3 by selecting and inputting the number of imagingdevices in the imaging device number selection area 121C and selectingand inputting a pattern of a layout determined for each number ofimaging units in the layout pattern selection area 121B.

For example, in a case where “3” is selected as the number of imagingdevices and pattern (shape) of the layout indicated by reference sign313B (hereinafter referred to as “layout 3-2”) is selected, sixdifferent layouts may be further considered according to a differencebetween relative frame positions, as illustrated in FIG. 8. For example,in a case where layout (1) in FIG. 8 is a default layout, the user canchange a display position and a display size of the live view imagethrough a slide operation, as illustrated in FIG. 9. The live viewimages LV1 to LV3 are not displayed in this step. Only the display sizeor only the display position may be changed according to the layoutpattern.

Layout information indicating the layout selected by the user is storedin the storage unit 150. Here, the layout information includesinformation indicating at least the display size and the displayposition of each live view image.

The priority setting unit 234 of the smartphone 100 sets the priority ofthe plurality of live views corresponding to the plurality of respectiveimaging devices 10A to 10C, among the plurality of live view images, onthe basis of the layout (which is an example of a display aspect)selected in step S102 (step S104: an example of a display aspect). Forexample, as shown in FIG. 4, priority 1 is set for a live view image LV1that is input from the imaging device 10A later, and priority 2 is setfor a live view image LV2 that is input from the imaging device 10Blater and a live view image LV3 that is input from the imaging device10C later. Here, the priority is set on the basis of the layout (whichis an example of a display aspect) of the plurality of live view imagesLV1, LV2, and LV3 instead of being set on the basis of which of theplurality of imaging devices 10A, 10B, and 10C inputs the live viewimage. In FIG. 4, the priority is set to be different among at leastsome of combinations of a plurality of live view images.

The transfer condition setting unit 236 of the smartphone 100 setsinitial transfer conditions of the plurality of live view images thatare transmitted from the plurality of imaging devices 10A to 10C to thesmartphone 100 (step S106). In this step, the same frame rate and thesame image size are set for the plurality of live view images LV1, LV2,and LV3. That is, transfer conditions under which a high transfer rateis allowed are set regardless of the priority by usually regarding aload as being small.

It is determined whether or not an imaging preparation instruction forimaging performed by the plurality of imaging devices 10A to 10C isinput to the instruction input unit 212 of the smartphone 100 (stepS108). For example, in a case where pressing of the release button icon125 in FIG. 6 is performed once, the imaging preparation instruction isdetermined to be input.

In a case where the imaging preparation instruction is input to theinstruction input unit 212 of the smartphone 100 (YES in step S108), theinstruction output unit 204 (wireless communication unit 110) of thesmartphone 100 transmits (outputs) the imaging preparation instructionand the initial transfer conditions to the plurality of imaging devices10A to 10C through the wireless communication (step S110).

The plurality of imaging devices 10A to 10C that have received (input)the imaging preparation instruction and the initial transfer conditionsstart of transmission (output) of the live view image to the smartphone100 through the wireless communication. The image input unit 202(wireless communication unit 110) of the smartphone 100 receives (input)a plurality of live view images from the plurality of imaging devices10A to 10C through wireless communication.

The execution control unit 250 of the smartphone 100 determines whetherthe live view image has been received from at least one of the pluralityof imaging devices 10A to 10C (step S112).

The image processing unit 242 of the smartphone 100 trims the receivedlive view image LV0 to extract the live view image LV for a display, asillustrated in FIG. 10 (step S114).

The display control unit 244 of the smartphone 100 displays theplurality of live view images LV1, LV2, and LV3, (corresponding to LV inFIG. 10) in the plurality of respective regions 301, 302, and 303 of thedisplay panel 121 of the display and input unit 120, as illustrated inFIG. 11 (step S116).

The execution control unit 250 of the smartphone 100 determines whetheror not changing the layout of the live view image display has beenperformed (step S118). In a multi-live view screen illustrated in FIG.6, the layout of the live view image display can be changed in a statewhere the live view images LV1, LV2, and LV3 are displayed. The displayaspect setting unit 232 in this example receives a change in the layoutin the multi-live view screen.

In a case where changing the layout of the live view image display hasbeen performed (YES in step S118), the priority is reset on the basis ofthe changed layout (step S120: an aspect of the priority setting step).

The transfer condition change determination unit 240 of the smartphone100 compares at least one of the actual frame rate (measurement value)and the actual image size (measurement value) of the live view imagetransfer detected by the load detection unit 238 of the smartphone 100with a threshold value to determine whether or not the transferconditions are changed (step S122: an aspect of a first determiningstep, a second determination step, and a third determination step).

In a case where the actual frame rate of the live view image transfer issmaller than the threshold value (YES in step S122), the transfercondition setting unit 236 of the smartphone 100 performs setting forchanging the transfer conditions on the basis of the priority of theplurality of live view images (step S124: an aspect of a transfercondition setting step). That is, the transfer conditions are changed onthe basis of the determination result of step S122. For example, thetransfer condition setting unit 236 of the smartphone 100 decreases theframe rate (which is a set value) of the transfer of the live view imagehaving a priority of level 2 or less.

That is, in a case where at least one of the transfer load of the liveview image from the imaging device 10 to the smartphone 100 and theprocessing load of the live view image in the smartphone 100 isdetermined to increase when discomfort of viewing of the live view imageis given to the user, transfer conditions of the live view image havinga low priority are changed into a low transfer amount. For example, in acase where a threshold value of the actual frame rate is set as 20 fps(frame per second) and the actual frame rate (measurement value)detected by the load detection unit 238 is 15 fps, changing is performedto reduce the frame rate (set value) of the transfer since the actualframe rate (15 fps) is smaller than the threshold value (20 fps). Theimage size of the transfer may be changed together with the transfer ofthe frame rate. The present invention includes a case where only theimage size of the transfer is changed.

The instruction output unit 204 (wireless communication unit 110) of thesmartphone 100 transmits (outputs) the changed transfer conditions tothe necessary imaging device among the plurality of imaging devices 10Ato 10C through radio communication (step S126).

It is determined whether or not an instruction of imaging that isperformed by the plurality of imaging devices 10A to 10C is input to theinstruction input unit 212 of the smartphone 100 (step S128). Forexample, the imaging instruction is determined to have been input in acase where pressing of the release button icon 125 in FIG. 6 isperformed in a state in which the live view image is displayed.

In a case where the imaging instruction has been input to theinstruction input unit 212 of the smartphone 100 (YES in step S128), theinstruction output unit 204 (wireless communication unit 110) of thesmartphone 100 transmits (output) the imaging instruction to theplurality of imaging devices 10A to 10C through wireless communication(step S130).

In the plurality of imaging devices 10A to 10C, imaging of a subject isperformed. The image input unit 202 (wireless communication unit 110) ofthe smartphone 100 receives (inputs) a plurality of captured images fromthe plurality of imaging devices 10A to 10C through wirelesscommunication (step S132).

The execution control unit 250 of the smartphone 100 records theplurality of captured images in the storage unit 150 of the smartphone100, and displays at least one of the plurality of captured images onthe display panel 121 of the display and input unit 120 of thesmartphone 100 (step S134).

<Another Instruction Input Example of Display Size and Display Position>

Although an aspect of the instruction input for the display size and thedisplay position of the live view image has been described withreference to FIGS. 6 to 9, the instruction input may be performedaccording to other aspects.

As illustrated in FIG. 12, an instruction input for changing the displaysize of the live view image LV may be performed by touching and slidinga frame of the display area of the live view image LV with a finger orthe like.

As illustrated in FIG. 13, an instruction input for changing the displayposition of the live view image LV may be performed by touching andsliding a region within the frame of the live view image LV with thefinger or the like.

Although the range of the trimming illustrated in FIG. 10 isautomatically set by selecting the pattern of the layout in the case ofthe scheme of selecting the layout pattern as illustrated in FIGS. 6 to8, the instruction input for changing the trimming range of the liveview image may be received from the user as illustrated in FIG. 14. Inthe example illustrated in FIG. 14, the range of trimming from the liveview image LV 0 (original live view image) that is received from theimaging device 10 can be changed by touching and sliding the frame 300of the display area of the live view image LV with the finger or thelike.

<Another Embodiment of Live View Control Method>

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of the second embodiment ofthe live view control method. In FIG. 15, processing in the smartphone100 is executed by the execution control unit 250 of the smartphone 100according to a program stored in the storage unit 150 of the smartphone100. It is assumed that the imaging device 10 is in a state in which thepower switch has already been turned on and initialization has beencompleted.

Steps S202, S206, S208, S210 and S212 are the same as steps S102, S106,S108, S110, and S112 of the first embodiment of the live view controlmethod illustrated in FIG. 5, respectively, and description thereof willbe omitted herein.

However, in the second embodiment, the priority of the plurality of liveview images is set according to the display situation of the pluralityof live view images, unlike the first embodiment (which is an example inwhich the priority of the plurality of live view images is set accordingto the display aspects of the plurality of live view images).

In step S213 (which is an aspect of the priority setting step), thepriority setting unit 234 of the smartphone 100 sets the priority of thelive view image according to at least one determination condition amongwhether or not a predetermined specific subject image exists in the liveview image (hereinafter referred to as “presence or absence of thesubject image”) and which of a plurality of subject images having apredetermined priority (which indicates an order of importance among theplurality of subject images) is the subject image in the live view image(hereinafter referred to as “importance of the live view image”). Forexample, it is determined that a predetermined subject image exists inthe first image display area 301 or a subject image with high importanceexists through face detection in the display screen illustrated in FIG.16.

Steps S214 to S234 are the same as steps S114 to S116 and S122 to S134of the first embodiment of the live view control method illustrated inFIG. 5, and description thereof will be omitted herein.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of the third embodiment ofthe live view control method. In FIG. 17, processing in the smartphone100 is executed by the execution control unit 250 of the smartphone 100according to a program stored in the storage unit 150 of the smartphone100. It is assumed that the imaging device 10 is in a state in which thepower switch has already been turned on and initialization has beencompleted.

Steps S302, S306, S308, S310, and S312 are the same as steps S102, S106,S108, S110, and S112 of the first embodiment of the live view controlmethod illustrated in FIG. 5, respectively, and description thereof willbe omitted herein.

However, in the third embodiment, a priority of a plurality of live viewimages is set according to the display situation of the live viewimages, unlike the first embodiment (which is an example in which thepriority of the plurality of live view images is set according to thedisplay aspect of the plurality of live view images).

In step S313 (which is an aspect of a priority setting step), thepriority setting unit 234 of the smartphone 100 sets the priority of thelive view image according to at least one determination condition amongwhether or not a moving body image exists in the live view image(hereinafter referred to as “presence or absence of a moving bodyimage”), a size of the moving body image in the live view image, and amovement speed of the moving body image in the live view image. Forexample, the moving subject image is determined to exist in the firstimage display area 301 through moving object detection in the displayscreen illustrated in FIG. 18.

Steps S314 to S334 are the same as steps S114 to S116 and S122 to S134in the first embodiment of the live view control method illustrated inFIG. 5, and description thereof will be omitted herein.

[Variation of instruction input for priority]

The case where the priority setting unit 234 of the smartphone 100 setsthe priority of the plurality of live view images among the plurality oflive view images on the basis of at least one of the display aspect andthe display situation of the plurality of live view images has beendescribed by way example, the present invention is not limited to such acase.

The display and input unit 120 (instruction input unit 212) may receivethe instruction input for the priority of the plurality of live viewimages from the user. For example, in a case where a specific touchoperation (for example, double tap) is performed on a specific displayarea (for example, a display area indicated by reference numeral 303)among display areas 301 to 303 of the plurality of live view images inthe screen illustrated in FIG. 11, the priority of the live view imagein the display area (for example, the display area indicated byreference numeral 303) in which the specific touch operation has beenperformed is made higher than that of the other display areas (forexample, display areas indicated by reference numerals 301 and 302). Aninstruction input for the priority may be received by receiving theinput of identification information (for example, identification number)of each of the plurality of live view images. The instruction input forthe priority may be received by the operation unit 140. In thisvariation, the display and input unit 120 and the operation unit 140 areexamples of a priority instruction input unit in the present invention.

[Variations of System Configuration]

Although the case in which the present invention is applied to the firstwireless communication aspect in which the imaging device 10 and thesmartphone 100 that is an example of an a live view control unitdirectly perform the wireless communication as illustrated in FIG. 1 hasbeen described in detail, the present invention may be applied to asecond wireless communication aspect illustrated in FIG. 19.

In FIG. 19, imaging devices 10A, 10B, and 10D and a smartphone 100 thatis an example of a live view control device indirectly perform wirelesscommunication via an access point AP. In such a live view system, a loadin transfer between the imaging devices 10A, 10B, and 10D and the accesspoint AP and a load in transfer between the access point AP and thesmartphone 100 are included as transfer loads of the live view image.Further, a processing load for the live view image in the access pointAP is added as the transfer load of the live view image. The presentinvention is also applicable to such a live view system.

In the case of FIG. 19, the imaging devices 10A and 10B and the imagingdevice 10D are different in a model. The imaging device 10D is a pan andtilt camera in which an imaging unit including an imaging lens and animaging element is rotatable in a pan direction and a tilt direction.The present invention is applicable to a case where the model isdifferent between the imaging devices.

Further, the present invention is not particularly limited to theexamples described in this specification and the accompanying drawings,and may be implemented in aspects different from the examples describedin this specification and the accompanying drawings without departingfrom the gist of the present invention.

EXPLANATION OF REFERENCES

-   10 (10A, 10B, 10C, 10D): imaging device-   100: smartphone (live view control device)-   101: main control unit-   110: wireless communication unit-   120: display and input unit-   121: display panel-   122: operation panel-   202: image input unit-   204: instruction output unit-   212: instruction input unit (display aspect instruction input unit,    priority instruction input unit)-   232: display aspect setting unit-   234: priority setting unit-   236: transfer condition setting unit-   238: load detection unit-   240: transfer condition change determination unit-   242: image processing unit-   244: display control unit-   246: display situation detection unit-   248: communication control unit-   250: execution control unit

What is claimed is:
 1. A live view control device, comprising: aprocessor configured to: receive a plurality of live view images from aplurality of imaging devices through wireless communication; displayeach of the plurality of live view images received from the plurality ofimaging devices in each of a plurality of areas of a display screencapable of displaying an image; set a priority of the plurality of liveview images among the plurality of live view images; set transferconditions including at least one of a frame rate of transfer and animage size of the transfer of the plurality of live view images on thebasis of the priority of the plurality of live view images; transmit thetransfer conditions set by the processor to the plurality of imagingdevices via wireless communication; and determine whether or not thetransfer conditions are changed on the basis of a result of comparisonbetween at least one of an actual frame rate and an actual image size ofone or a plurality of live view images having a specific priority or ahigher priority received from the plurality of imaging devices among theplurality of live view images and a threshold value, wherein theprocessor changes the transfer conditions on the basis of adetermination result of the processor.
 2. The live view control deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein the processor sets the priority of theplurality of live view images on the basis of at least one of a displayaspect and a display situation of the live view image.
 3. The live viewcontrol device according to claim 2, wherein the processor sets thepriority of the live view image according to at least one of a displaysize and a display position of the live view image.
 4. The live viewcontrol device according to claim 3, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to receive an instruction input for at least one of a displaysize and a display position of the live view image.
 5. The live viewcontrol device according to claim 4, wherein the processor sets thepriority of the live view image according to whether a predeterminedspecific subject image exists in the live view image, or which of aplurality of subject images having a predetermined priority is thesubject image in the live view image.
 6. The live view control deviceaccording to claim 5, wherein the processor the priority of the liveview image according to at least one of whether or not a moving bodyimage exists in the live view image, a size of the moving body image inthe live view image, and a movement speed of the moving body image. 7.The live view control device according to claim 1, wherein the processoris further configured to receive an instruction input for a priority ofthe plurality of live view images.
 8. A live view system, comprising:imaging devices; and the live view control device according to claim 1.9. A live view control device, comprising: a processor configured to:receive a plurality of live view images from a plurality of imagingdevices through wireless communication; display each of the plurality oflive view images received from the plurality of imaging devices in eachof a plurality of areas of a display screen capable of displaying animage; set a priority of the plurality of live view images among theplurality of live view images; set transfer conditions including atleast one of a frame rate of transfer and an image size of the transferof the plurality of live view images on the basis of the priority of theplurality of live view images; transmit the transfer conditions set bythe processor to the plurality of imaging devices via wirelesscommunication; and determine whether or not the transfer conditions arechanged on the basis of a result of comparison between a sum over theplurality of imaging devices of at least one of an actual frame rate andan actual image size of the plurality of live view images and athreshold value, wherein the processor changes the transfer conditionsin a case where the processor determines that the transfer conditionsare changed.
 10. A live view control device, comprising: a processorconfigured to: receive a plurality of live view images from a pluralityof imaging devices through wireless communication; display each of theplurality of live view images received from the plurality of imagingdevices in each of a plurality of areas of a display screen capable ofdisplaying an image; set a priority of the plurality of live view imagesamong the plurality of live view images; set transfer conditionsincluding at least one of a frame rate of transfer and an image size ofthe transfer of the plurality of live view images on the basis of thepriority of the plurality of live view images; transmit the transferconditions set by the processor to the plurality of imaging devices viawireless communication; and determine whether or not the transferconditions are changed on the basis of both of an actual frame rate andan actual image size of the plurality of live view image, wherein theprocessor changes the transfer conditions in a case where the processordetermines that the transfer conditions are changed.
 11. A live viewcontrol method, comprising: a step of receiving a plurality of live viewimages from a plurality of imaging devices through wirelesscommunication; a step of displaying each of the plurality of live viewimages received from the plurality of imaging devices in each of aplurality of areas of a display screen capable of displaying an image; apriority setting step of setting a priority of the plurality of liveview images among the plurality of live view images; a transfercondition setting step of setting transfer conditions including at leastone of a frame rate of transfer and an image size of the transfer of theplurality of live view images on the basis of the priority of theplurality of live view images; a step of transmitting the set transferconditions to the plurality of imaging devices through wirelesscommunication; and a first determination step of determining whether ornot the transfer conditions are changed on the basis of a result ofcomparison between at least one of an actual frame rate and an actualimage size of one or a plurality of live view images having a specificpriority or a higher priority received from the plurality of imagingdevices among the plurality of live view images and a threshold value,wherein the transfer conditions are changed on the basis of adetermination result of the first determination step.
 12. The live viewcontrol method according to claim 11, wherein the priority setting stepincludes setting the priority of the plurality of live view images onthe basis of at least one of a display aspect and a display situation ofthe live view image.
 13. The live view control method according to claim11, wherein the priority setting step includes setting the priority ofthe live view image according to at least one of a display size and adisplay position of the live view image.
 14. The live view controlmethod according to claim 11, wherein the priority setting step includessetting the priority of the live view image according to whether apredetermined specific subject image exists in the live view image, orwhich of a plurality of subject images having a predetermined priorityis the subject image in the live view image.
 15. The live view controlmethod according to claim 11, wherein the priority setting step includessetting the priority of the live view image according to at least one ofwhether or not a moving body image exists in the live view image, a sizeof the moving body image in the live view image, and a movement speed ofthe moving body image.
 16. A live view control method, comprising: astep of receiving a plurality of live view images from a plurality ofimaging devices through wireless communication; a step of displayingeach of the plurality of live view images received from the plurality ofimaging devices in each of a plurality of areas of a display screencapable of displaying an image; a priority setting step of setting apriority of the plurality of live view images among the plurality oflive view images; a transfer condition setting step of setting transferconditions including at least one of a frame rate of transfer and animage size of the transfer of the plurality of live view images on thebasis of the priority of the plurality of live view images; a step oftransmitting the set transfer conditions to the plurality of imagingdevices through wireless communication; and a second determination stepof determining whether or not the transfer conditions are changed on thebasis of a result of comparison between a sum over the plurality ofimaging devices of at least one of an actual frame rate and an actualimage size of the plurality of live view images and a threshold value,wherein the transfer conditions are changed on the basis of adetermination result of the second determination step.
 17. A live viewcontrol method, comprising: a step of receiving a plurality of live viewimages from a plurality of imaging devices through wirelesscommunication; a step of displaying each of the plurality of live viewimages received from the plurality of imaging devices in each of aplurality of areas of a display screen capable of displaying an image; apriority setting step of setting a priority of the plurality of liveview images among the plurality of live view images; a transfercondition setting step of setting transfer conditions including at leastone of a frame rate of transfer and an image size of the transfer of theplurality of live view images on the basis of the priority of theplurality of live view images; and a step of transmitting the settransfer conditions to the plurality of imaging devices through wirelesscommunication; and a third determination step of determining whether ornot the transfer conditions are changed on the basis of both of anactual frame rate and an actual image size of the plurality of live viewimage, wherein the transfer conditions are changed on the basis of adetermination result of the third determination step.
 18. Acomputer-readable non-transitory recording medium having a program thatcauses a computer to execute: a step of receiving a plurality of liveview images from a plurality of imaging devices through wirelesscommunication; a step of displaying each of the plurality of live viewimages received from the plurality of imaging devices in each of aplurality of areas of a display screen capable of displaying an image; apriority setting step of setting a priority of the plurality of liveview images among the plurality of live view images; a transfercondition setting step of setting transfer conditions including at leastone of a frame rate of transfer and an image size of the transfer of theplurality of live view images on the basis of the priority of theplurality of live view images; a step of transmitting the set transferconditions to the plurality of imaging devices through wirelesscommunication; and a first determination step of determining whether ornot the transfer conditions are changed on the basis of a result ofcomparison between at least one of an actual frame rate and an actualimage size of one or a plurality of live view images having a specificpriority or a higher priority received from the plurality of imagingdevices among the plurality of live view images and a threshold value,wherein the transfer conditions are changed on the basis of adetermination result of the first determination step.
 19. Acomputer-readable non-transitory recording medium having a program thatcauses a computer to execute: a step of receiving a plurality of liveview images from a plurality of imaging devices through wirelesscommunication; a step of displaying each of the plurality of live viewimages received from the plurality of imaging devices in each of aplurality of areas of a display screen capable of displaying an image; apriority setting step of setting a priority of the plurality of liveview images among the plurality of live view images; a transfercondition setting step of setting transfer conditions including at leastone of a frame rate of transfer and an image size of the transfer of theplurality of live view images on the basis of the priority of theplurality of live view images; and a step of transmitting the settransfer conditions to the plurality of imaging devices through wirelesscommunication; a second determination step of determining whether or notthe transfer conditions are changed on the basis of a result ofcomparison between a sum over the plurality of imaging devices of atleast one of an actual frame rate and an actual image size of theplurality of live view images and a threshold value, wherein thetransfer conditions are changed on the basis of a determination resultof the second determination step.
 20. A computer-readable non-transitoryrecording medium having a program that causes a computer to execute: astep of receiving a plurality of live view images from a plurality ofimaging devices through wireless communication; a step of displayingeach of the plurality of live view images received from the plurality ofimaging devices in each of a plurality of areas of a display screencapable of displaying an image; a priority setting step of setting apriority of the plurality of live view images among the plurality oflive view images; a transfer condition setting step of setting transferconditions including at least one of a frame rate of transfer and animage size of the transfer of the plurality of live view images on thebasis of the priority of the plurality of live view images; a step oftransmitting the set transfer conditions to the plurality of imagingdevices through wireless communication; and a third determination stepof determining whether or not the transfer conditions are changed on thebasis of both of an actual frame rate and an actual image size of theplurality of live view image, wherein the transfer conditions arechanged on the basis of a determination result of the thirddetermination step.